Warm Autumn spices come together easily in this homemade Apple Pie Spice recipe. It’s the perfect embodiment of the holiday season. Skip the store bought version this year and make your own apple pie spice mix for all of your holiday baking needs.
Making your own spice mix is so easy and cheap, stop forking out your hard earned dollars for the store bought stuff. You may already have all the ingredients you need to make this apple pie spice at home.
You can probably buy apple pie spice year round online, but I noticed that they aren’t always available in the local grocery store. My guess is they only stock them during the holiday season. So, one more advantage to making your own apple pie spice is that you can make apple pie well before all the holiday festivities start!
Table of Contents
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Super easy – You just need 5 ingredients and a blink of an eye to whip up this apple pie spice recipe.
- Save money – Like I mentioned already, it’s way cheaper to make your own spice mix than buying a store bought jar.
- Adjustable – You can adjust the blend to your taste!
- Control how much to make – You can make as much or as little as you like to accommodate how much baking you will be doing. This also makes it easy to keep your apple pie spice fresh if you don’t typically use a lot of it.
Tools you’ll need
No special tools are required if you’re using ground spices to make your apple pie spice blend. If you’re using whole spices, you will need a spice and nut grinder.
Ingredients and substitutions
As always, you’ll find the complete list of ingredients and quantities in the recipe card at the end of this post. Below are some notes and substitution tips:
The following 3 ingredients are the most typical spices in apple pie spice and can be found in both McCormick brand and King Arthur brand apple pie spice, the two most common brands for this spice mix.
- Cinnamon – is the most prominent ingredient that will go into the spice blend. It is sweet and spicy and the most typical spice you’ll use in baking.
- Nutmeg – adds a warm, sweet and astringent flavor profile to the blend.
- Allspice – is similar to a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, but the aroma is not as sharp as any one of these spices alone. I use a small amount of allspice in my blend. If you don’t have allspice, you can use a pinch of clove. If you don’t have clove either, then just skip it all together.
The following 2 ingredients are not typical but crucial to help my homemade apple pie spice recipe stand out.
- Ginger – adds a sweet and woody note.
- Cardamom – adds a little brightness and extra complexity. It is strong and aromatic, with a spicy, herbal, citrusy character. This is by far my favorite spice and the hint of citrus really brightens up this very warm spice blend.
How to make apple pie spice
The following instructions, step-by-step photos, and tips are here to help you visualize how to make the recipe. You can always skip straight to the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
There is just one simple step in making your own apple pie spice. Whisk together all ingredients in a bowl or add them to a spice jar, close the lid and shake until thoroughly mixed.
Storage
Ground spices are freshest within 3 months of being bottled but they will retain most of their flavors for 2-3 years. With that in mind, store your apple pie spice in an airtight jar for up to 3 years. However, the longer you keep your spice, the weaker the flavor will become.
FAQs
Both of these spice mixes have cinnamon as the main ingredient. But the second most prominent ingredient in pumpkin pie spice is ginger — which gives it a sweet and woody characteristic — whereas the second most prominent ingredient in apple pie spice is nutmeg — which gives it a sharper, more astringent note.
If you don’t have or don’t want to buy an entire jar of apple pie spice, because you may not use it all up with just a few baking projects this holiday season, considering mixing your own apple pie spice substitute using this recipe.
If you don’t have all of the ground spices called for in this recipe, I suggest using a mix of at least cinnamon and nutmeg or cinnamon and allspice as substitute.
Recipes using apple pie spice
- Apple Pie Cake
- Apple Pie Bars
- Apple Pie
- Apple Pear Pie
- Apple Plum Crisp
- Apple Butter
- Pear Cranberry Pie
Hungry for more?
Apple Pie Spice
Ingredients
- 3 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ rounded teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ rounded teaspoon cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon allspice
Instructions
- Add all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk to distribute evenly. Store in an airtight container.
Notes
- Rounded teaspoon means don’t level off your teaspoon measurement and allow the spices to make a little dome.
- This small batch recipe makes about 4 teaspoons of apple pie spice, but can be scaled up very easily to make a larger batch.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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First time using cardamom and thought that smelled amazing. So with all the spices together I thought it was wonderful. Used this when I made your apple/ pear pie. Which was awesome.
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